In 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry steamed into Edo Bay and "opened" Japan to trade with America. As entertainment for the treaty-signing ceremony, Perry brought a white-men-in-black-face minstrel show—and thereby confirmed the widely whispered Japanese belief that trade with the American "barbarians" could only lead to cultural ruin. Yet the pawns in this clash of cultures—the minstrels, Ace Bledsoe and Ned Clark, and the Japanese interpreter, Manjiro Okubo—are just slightly more curious than cautious. Within the minstrels Manjiro sensed "the subtleties of spirit that reside in all good men." When Ace and Ned are unwittingly made part of a Japanese plot to undermine the American presence, Manjiro helps them escape into the countryside. Pursued by samurai, torn between treachery and loyalty, Manjiro and the minstrels (along with family, friends, and lovers) make their way across Japan, fleeing a showdown with the samurai that gradually becomes inevitable.
Commodore Perry's Minstrel Show is the long-awaited prequel—more than a decade in the making—to Richard Wiley's PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novel, Soldiers in Hiding. A sword-swinging page-turner infused with a heady mix of Japanese etiquette, American ideals, and Machiavellian philosophy, Wiley's latest novel sparkles as it shapes history into an enlightened drama of the earliest moments of globalization.
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. BT1 - An advance reader copy paperback book SIGNED by James Magnuson in very good condition that has some light discoloration and shelf wear. James A. Michener Fiction Series, James Magnuson, Editor. 9"x6", 278 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Editor. Advance Reading Copy (ARC). Seller Inventory # EC28230BB
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.3. Seller Inventory # G029271470XI4N10
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First edition stated on copyright page. Fine in a fine jacket. Inscribed on the title page to friends of the author and signed by the author in felt pen - and also signed with his name on the title page "Richard Wiley Las Vegas 2007." Historical fiction. Inscribed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 057919